"The Haunted Treeline"
Legend of Mr. Witticker
An original creation based on a true story written by: Stacey L. Bolin
to add sound effects to the story you can open up a second page and click on this link.
(Part two)
The drive was free from the congestion of
traffic, that had formed earlier in the day, with people excited to take part
in the beautiful weather that mother nature was teasing them with. Mindy and
Evan were certain that on a night like this there would be numerous people at
the party, which made them someone nervous as they still didn't really know anyone very well.
How shocked they where when they arrived and
discovered that there was only one other person, they had not met before, who was
already there, everyone else was either a no-show or had expressed that they
would be arriving later in the evening. Even the couple who had initially
invited them to the first gathering had not arrived.
Mindy and Evan were greeted with a sincere
welcome from Jake and his girlfriend Allison, who were the home owners and the
hosts of the party. They were quick to introduce them to their friend Michael –
Mick for short, who was very personable and no problems carrying on a
conversation no matter what the topic was. Immediately they felt the
awkwardness of still being new to the group - subside. They opened their
folding chairs and placed them among the ring of chairs that circled the fire and
made sure they were upwind from the smoke that billowed upward from it. It was
actually rather nice to just sit down and talk with everyone, without the endless
demands from pushy waitresses for alcohol purchases if they had all gone out to a bar. Here it was
just people kicking back with a beer or two, with the exception of Allison, she
loved her fruity drinks, just as much a Mindy, but with Mindy having to watch
her alcohol intake because of medical issues and being the designated driver, she chose to occasionally take
sips from Evan’s beer over the course of the evening.
As they sat, Mindy was intrigued with her
surroundings, as this was the first time she was able to see what was around
her, because daylight savings time had extended a few more hours in the day.
The sun had turned in for the night and the moon shown fresh and bright in a sky colored in lavender, purple, and dark blue hues.
“Wow, would you look at that.”
“Look at what Mindy?” questioned Evan.
“The way the moon looks so spooky just over
their house and it’s a full moon at that.”
“You promised Mindy. Don’t go there.”
“Go where?” asked Jake, then took a swig of
his beer.
Mindy laughed, “I get inspired to write
stories every time there is full moon hanging in the night sky or when there is
a heavy rain beating down hard on the rooftop.”
“I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if she is sitting
there right now and her mind is trying to figure out what kind of story she can create from all
of us just sitting here around a bonfire. Gotta be careful around my lady – she’s
a writer and she just might find a way to throw you into one of her stories.”
Evan explained and then laughed his truthful comment off as if it were a joke.
Mindy just ginned.
“So Mindy…what kind of story would be coming
into your mind…if you were to write
about us?” Jake asked, with the hopes that she was already in mid idea and that
he and his friends were a part of it.
“With the way the moon looks just over the
rooftop of your house, no other lights on, just the light of the fire
illumination just the faces of the people gathered round it…”she was quickly interrupted
by Evan as he blurted out;
“A man hanging out in the dark tree
line seeks an answer!”
“Seriously Evan? Seriously?” Mindy replied
with a mixed tone of surprise and disappointment. “You ass!” she thought. She couldn’t believe that he had casually
brought up some of the legend of Mr. Witticker after asking her never to say anything
since these people lived only a short distance away from where the horrific
event took place. Jake, Allison, and Mick just looked at the
two of them, almost waiting for a fight to ensue.
“What?” I just was having fun.” Said Evan
while wearing a look of innocence as if he had not said nor done anything wrong.
“Now whose nuts…Evan?”
“It’s all good.” Evan took another drink from
his beer and quickly asked Mick what he did for a living, to get all eyes looking
at anyone other than him.
The conversations were relaxing and tended to
revolve around teenagers and their inability to socialize one on one because of
their high dependency for their multimedia phones and applications. Mindy laugh
to herself as she watched Allison sending a couple message on her phone to
inquire who was still coming to the party –she was oblivious to the conversation
or why Jake was laughing at her, when she looked up and saw that all eyes were
on her.
“What? What are you looking at?” She said
with a beautiful smile.
Mick smiled and said, “it’s nothing babe, go
back to your phone.”
As they began to engage in some playful banter,
two more guess had arrived. Allison once again was quick with the
introductions, but for some reason her friends, gave both Mindy and Evan the impression that they may not have been as comfortable as
Mick had been, with new faces in the mix.
They sat on the far side of the fire pit, and
engaged in occasional yet minimal conversation unless Allison had gone over
like she had a few times during the night, to talk to them, but just quiet enough that not all of their conversation could be heard. Mindy, began to feel uneasy when she noticed the hand jesture that she had made when talking about Evan, just a few hours earlier. It was at that moment that she couldn't find the ability
to want to be overly cordial, whether what they were talking about was about her or not - her gut instinct was telling her, that any kind
of close friendship stemming from meeting them would probably never happen and
not because she didn’t try, they would probably feel Mindy's uneasiness about her. If Mindy had her way, she'd see to it that none of them would every know she suffers from a traumatic stress disorder from an assault while she was in the military and that keeping her guard up when trusting strangers was only one of many things that made Mindy who she was.
As the night grew deeper into the hours on
the clock, the topics began to swirl around sex or something sexual, like a
person would hear if they were at a bar with a bunch of single military
personnel – even though it’s not appropriate, someone always has to take the conversation
down gutter lane. Mindy and Evan, being prior military, had heard it all and
there wasn’t much in the way that would offend them. Mindy on occasion like to
share her happiness that she married a cowboy and that it was nice to know she
was the only one occupying his range, but not boast or brag, she just loved to
make Evan blush when she could. Everyone, except the two female guests, had
something crazy to share, but nothing was so profane, at that moment, that a
person felt it was time to leave.
At the party, Allison’s kids were also still
home and had a friend over to entertain them. They were having a blast playing
hide-n-seek, and once in a while when their mother wasn’t aware, they would go
in the house and play video games. For Mindy and Evan, they took great joy in
the notion that while these kids were younger and the parents often worried
what they were doing or getting into, they didn’t have too, as their kids were off
doing their own thing – and that was a whole different set of worries.
As the kids took a break, one of the children
decided that he wanted to roast a marshmallow over the fire. He was a very
polite little boy who was quick at getting his marshmallow toasted to a burn.
“You guys having fun in the wood line?” asked
Evan.
“Yep” the child replied as he watched the
flame burn the outside of his sweet skewered treat.
“You know there is a ghost that roams those
woods…don’t you?”
“Evan!” exclaimed Mindy, “don’t scare him.”
“I’m not scared.” Said the boy, while trying
to eat the melting mess he had created. “What ghost are you talking about.” He then
asked rather inquisitively.
“The one armed man.”
Allison just shook her head it wasn’t true
when the boy looked at his mother.
“What about a one armed man?” the boy asked.
“It’s nothing,” Allison chimed in.
“I’m not scared mom.”
Evan continued with his story, “Years ago, it
happened right down there.”
“At the Bowling Alley?” questioned the boy, "That's weird."
“Yes, you see, these houses were not here, it
was nothing but woods and thicket. The Bowling Alley was built just down the
hill on the main road and it was the most popular spot to take a date, hang
with friends, or learn a new sport. They would have special events and dances
and parents knew that it was a place where all the teenagers hung out on a
Friday and Saturday night, and was safe. The legend has it, in 1956 Mr.
Witticker, Mr. Gavin Witticker to be exact, was not only the builder, but also
the owner of the Midway Bowling Alley. He had always heard that if a small town
had a Bowling Alley in it, then it would be on a map and draw in outside
customers to local shops and businesses. He was in his mid-twenties and for years had been
known as the youngest single entrepreneur with a grand business sense that
eventually put the little town of Neewollah on the map. He wanted to create a place where people
could hang out as a family, a hot spot for teens and even a place where grandma
and grandpa could continue with the excitement of being on a league like they had
been on in years past, at other locations, before retiring and moving to town.
“That’s not scary.” The boy replied with a
voice that mimicked his body language that clearly displayed that he was
getting bored with the story and was ready to go back and play with his
friends.
“Let me finish. It gets even better.” Evan
continued, “One Friday night the house was packed with all kinds of people
trying to get that perfect 300 game. Something, or should I say, someone caught
Gavin’s eye as he walked passed lane 15. A beautiful sight like none he had
ever seen before. He was immediately drawn to this beauty.
“Hi I’m Gavin.” He said nervously wondering
if she’d pay him any attention.
“Hi Gavin.” She said with a smile as she
looked up at him with her sparkling baby blue eyes.
“What’s your name?”
“Charlene.”
“A beautiful name just right for a beautiful
lady.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls.” She blushed.
“Charlene, are you seeing anyone?”
“No, I just moved here from two towns over,
so I don’t really know anyone yet.”
“Would you like to join me for something to
eat at the food bar over there?”
The young ladies she had been bowling with began to tee-he and chuckle.
“Yes, I would love to join you.” She turned
to her friends and smiled as she got up and walked away with him.
“Have fun Charlene,” the girl all said in
unison.
Gavin and Charlene walked up to the food bar
both nervous that they were strangers to one another – strangers who clearly
had an interest in one another as well.
The boy had clearly heard enough, though so
it appeared, and excused himself from the making of both his burnt marshmallows
and Evan’s story to play hide-n-seek with his friends near the woods. You could
see the disappointment in Evan’s face that he had not enticed the child to want
to sit and listen to the rest of the growing plot.
Just then a large figure took shape in the
darkened tree line. The kids came screaming across the yard yelling for their
parents that they needed to do something – there was someone out there.
“Maybe they should have listened to the rest of my
story.” Evan smirked.
“Jake can you see anything…I don’t” Allison
remarked while trying to focus in on the location that the kids claimed a
stranger was standing just past the reach of the moon light.
Allison somewhat nervous that there was the
possibility of an unwanted guest immediately demanded an answer, “You’re making
this shit up! Aren’t you Evan? You’re just trying to put a scare in us.” She tried
to laugh through her concern. Before he could answer, her boyfriend quickly
interjected.
“Sweetie calm down, I think your fruity
drinks are making you fruity, and you’re probably a little upset that the
people you invited to be here, not all of them could make it. It’s no big deal,
it doesn’t matter how many are here, and we are all still having fun and there is plenty more great weather days to light this fire pit up.”
“What’s going ON…WHO’S OUT THERE!?” she
screamed out.
Mindy leaned over in her chair and whispered
to Evan, “Now I know why you didn’t want me to say anything, it freaks people
out. Are you going to tell them what happened to Mr. Witticker and what they
don’t know about their property?”
“Tell us what?” Allison asked, “What aren’t
you tell us?”
(To be continued)
How inappropriate of me, today is good Friday and many of you are spending time with your families. So I will wait until next Monday, instead of this afternoon to post the rest of the story.
Happy Easter Everyone.
Come back Monday and get the rest of
the story – I dare you!
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